I adore the one of the central messages of the film, and that of the closing shot - you don't have to be part of the genetically elite Skywalker family to become immensely powerful in the Force.

Kylo and Rey - wow. Loved their impromptu team up. Thoroughly enjoyed the scenes they shared. Neither of them has a master now, which is a bold set up. It makes me hope that JJ resists the urge to bring Hamill back for Ep9 as a ghost, because that would cheapen what we've seen here. The Star Wars lore nerd in me wanted to know who or what Snoke was but ultimately it's the same as Rey's parents - unimportant. What matters is that now neither of them has no parental figure to guide them (assuming what we've read about Leia not appearing in Ep9 is true).

Luke was brilliant. The old school nerd in me wanted to see him shake off the cobwebs and dust off his saber. This is probably why I'm not a film director, because what we got was a fantastic portrayal of a broken man trying desperately late doors to redeem himself.

I went back and forth about the Leia 'Skywalking' scene. Immediately disliked it, with hindsight love it. It suggests that the depth of connection that you have with the Force is largely independent of your training. You can be untrained and the Force can still allow you to do amazing things. For Rey that was beating Kylo in the Starkiller forest, for Anakin it was podracing and blowing up the command ship, for Luke it was the Death Star and for Leia it was her Superman routine.

The story arc with the Resistance fleet was Battlestar flavoured perfection.

Like a lot of others, I wasn't super enamoured with the Finn/Rose story. It felt like it either should have been cut, or given more content. Not super happy about how Phasma went out but then most of the hype around her was created by the marketing team - what we saw on screen was basically just a Stormtrooper captain in shiny armour.

From a technical standpoint the visual were phenomenal and there was an incredible use of sound (and an absence thereof) in a lot of the scenes.
So yeah, a very enjoyable film.

Footnote: The Star Wars lore nerd in me can't go past the fact that they did Ackbar dirty in this

i think some of the issues I am having with those points SharkyMcShark is that this is the 2nd movie with some of these characters and I think they should have had more time.

In Force Awkens Phasma was just a stormtrooper captain in shiny armour who didn't really do much. Why waste an opportunity to do a little more with it the 2nd time around. Even if it is just another confrontation with Finn, have it go for more than like 5 seconds

Same with Snoke and Rey, maybe it is a good and surprising and fresh cinema technique or whatever killing him and having Rey's parents be nobodies but it seems really annoying and cheap to me after laying seeds and thought provoking dialogue in the TFA.

I don't disagree with the Force being able to do what it wants and maybe help people in need etc but the execution of that idea, if thats what it is supposed to be, with Leia zooming around in space not being dead just looked really silly.

Not sspeaking about anyone here, but I swear there's a swath of Star Wars fans who will only be happy if a new Star Wars movie is literally some kid who streams video games on Twitch reading out the Wookiepedia while Mark Hamill sits in the frame out of focus nodding in approval while occasionally that Darth Maul fight song from Phantom Menace plays in the background.

When the rolling intro came into view at the start it confirmed what I had suspected; that The Last Jedi will contain Empire Strikes Back easter eggs but little did I know that there'd be more than that. So here's what I can recall:

1. The opening battle is reminiscent of the Hoth evacuation.
2. Luke goes beneath that tree containing the dark side on Dagobah while Rey goes into that hole in the ground on Ahch-To.
3. Snoke's throne room/ Emperor's throne room.
3a. Snoke and the Emperor both say "Fulfill your destiny".
3b. Snoke and the Emperor both point out to Rey/Luke that all is lost and show them the plight of their friends.
4. The battle of Crait is the battle of Hoth version 2.0.

My only real disappointment was that we didn't learn more of Snoke before you know what.

Really highlighted how bad a storyteller JJ Abrams is, his whole, "mystery box" style is just laziness and Rian Johnson proved it by 1. Disposing of Snoke and 2. The reveal about Rey's parents which could've been dealt with in The Force Awakens.

My only real disappointment was that we didn't learn more of Snoke before you know what.

In an interview in Stack (a monthly mag at JB HI-FI), Andy Serkis recently said that The Last Jedi would reveal why Snoke hates the Republic/Rebels so much and how he got his scars. I'm feeling as disappointed as you.

I quite liked it, but it's nowhere near what some people are saying. The action scenes where good and the plot was good but quite drawn out.

The scenes of the bombers where we'll made and made it feel like a war movie. Paige, a character I went in expecting to be a pointless background character, was actually pretty cool. Vice Admiral Holdo was also an interesting character and I really like her and Poe's subplot. Superman Leia was really stupid and Ackbar dying was a bit upsetting as he has always been one of my favourites.

Snoke's ship was cool and I wish we saw more of him and Phasma. The The Finn and Rose side plot was quite boring and DJ was incredibly underwhelming however the casino scenes where very well made and the scene where Finn fights Phasma was great, even if BB-8 controlling a walker was quite silly.

The scenes on Luke's Island where ok but the scene where Rey went underground was just bizarre. It felt like something from a 90s EU/Legends comic. The part where he revealed what he tried to do to Kylo was incredibly out-of-character.

The Praetorian Guards looked really cool and they way they moved was cool but they did almost nothing. Snoke was purely wasted potential, the same as making Rey's parents nobodies.

The Defense of Crait was almost a carbon copy of the Battle of Hoth, other than the laser cannon (didn't catch what it was called). Luke's Force Clone was kind of strange and would seem out there to anyone who hadn't read some of the old comics. Rey suddenly gaining incredible Force powers was strange and out of place but continues her legacy of being incredibly skilled with little-to-no training.

Overall, it was a pretty good film but still miles off Empire Strikes Back and A New Hope. 7/10